1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to improvements in feminine hygienic devices, and more particularly to a flat-folded expandable urinary aid for use by females which expands laterally to form a substantially elliptical shaped opening at the inlet end to surround the labia major of the user and a tubular portion having a central opening extending its length which allows them to urinate from a standing position.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Women's public restrooms are most often unclean or unsanitary. In camping and traveling, a restroom is not always convenient or may be non-existant. The desirability of a urinary aid which allows females to urinate from a standing position has been recognized for some time, and numerous devices have been proposed in the art. There are several patents which disclose various urinary aids, most of which are complex constructions which are difficult to erect to the operational configuration and awkward to use.
Garland, U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,318 discloses a funnel-shaped urine specimen collection aid comprising a collapsible funnel structure which has a stabilizer flap for attaching and positioning the device in the mouth of a container during the taking of a urine specimen.
McGovern et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,573 discloses an oblique conical urinary device formed from a flat blank. In one embodiment, the device is curved with the side edges overlapped to form a simple oblique cone shape having a small diameter bottom end and a larger truncated diameter top end. In another embodiment the device has creases and is folded to form a rectangular funnel-shape with angularly opposed side walls and top and bottom walls, and in a third embodiment, is provided with a handle portion.
DeWitt et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,941 discloses a urine conducting appliance comprising a flexible layered sheet adapted to be folded in a U-shape to fit between the legs of a female and direct urine to an appropriate receptacle
Zieve et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,029 discloses a flat flexible pad having a hingedly attached flap with expandable side walls to permit the flap to move to an open expanded position forming a conduit for the passing of urine.
Towfigh, U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,046 discloses a urinary aid in the form of a flat folded tubular member which expands when the fold lines are squeezed together. The ends are cut in an S-shape such that either end may be used as the inlet or outlet. In the expanded condition, the cross-sectional configuration changes along its length from a somewhat eliptical or circular shape at the inlet end to a more oblate oval or eliptical shape at the outlet end. The device requires the user to spread the labia and insert the device between the labia in the flat folded condition toward and against the urinary meatus and then squeeze the fold lines together causing the side walls to expand radially outward.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a flat-folded expandable urinary aid for use by females which has an elongate flat-folded tubular portion terminating at an outlet end and a flat-folded funnel-shaped portion extending outwardly and rearwardly from the opposite end of the tubular portion terminating at an inlet end. The tubular portion and funnel-shaped portions are formed by a pair of opposed planar side walls hinged together from the inlet end to the outlet end along their top and bottom longitudinal edges. The side walls of the funnel-shaped portion are scored or creased along a pair of lines converging angularly from the juncture of the funnel-shaped portion with the tubular portion to intersect at a point approximately one-half the length of the funnel-shaped portion. The side walls of the tubular portion and funnel-shaped portion are creased or scored intermediate its longitudinal edges along a line extending longitudinally from the outlet end to the intersection of the converging score lines. Upon compression of the top and bottom longitudinal edges toward each other, the opposed side walls expand laterally outward from a flat-folded configuration to draws the funnel-shaped portion into a substantially elliptical shaped opening at the inlet end and the tubular portion into a generally diamond shaped configuration having a central opening extending the length of the tubular portion. The elliptical shaped opening at the inlet end is configured to surround the labia major of the user.